Collapsible container



Jan. 1a, 1927.

A. AMsLER conmrsmn cormrush sagmal Filed nov-' v. 1924 n Ml uw!" f g |IIIZHHHIIHHHHHI "Vil, AucuT Ann-ER.

l mvcNTOK.

Patented Jan. 18, 1927.

UNI-Tian .Br-AND..

ssIGNoR To EWAK A.- G. or` sigan,

Hyinvention relates to a collapsible container-'for handlingpiece goods'in bulk, as for'examp'le such articles' as postal" )ackages, pieces of baggage and th'efl'ike. lhe

'present invention is 'a division'of `my copending'"applicationfor patent Serial No. 748,477 filed'Novembe'r 7th, 1924'.y p My improved container isprimarily although'not exclusively designed fonuse in the v'postal service.' `Aside froniithe fact that in the postal service certain"smaller'farticles arepacked in Vsacks and`boxes` and are handledV in that manner,tliegreatest number ofarticles handled by :thel postal authorities' are presented singly.' 4' ltfhas'been heretofore proposed Vto pack thesearticles in"large` boxes and Vrigid containers, andfto handle the latter by' inea'ns of"suita'bl`e hoistingY gear ai'ndthe'flike,` but it has" been foundl in""'ra"ctice that the rvuse Yof'such 'boxes and rigi" t containers is :unsatisfactory, due largely` to "the fact "that the boxes andiconta'in'ers are not Welladapted 'to 'receive an' assortment of articles'variegated jas to'size and' shape, andfbecau'se s'uch bones and containers*Y' t'akevw "up"very considerable space and interfereV with f the Work of-'Qthe personnel, particularly Vinii'nail trains), baggage cars and the like. Moreover the boxes and rigid-containers are fairly heavy as a, rule and are undesirable for that reason. Y

The principal object of my invention is to provide a container which will occupy comparatively little space, is comparatively light in weight, and is flexible in the sense that it may receive large quantities of a great variety of differently shaped articles of varying dimensions and can be easily handled manually or by machinery. I

The essential characteristics of my container is that it has two oppositely disposed flexible movable sides. Vhile the container is being filled t-hese side Walls are maintained in upright position by means of Irods V or bars Which may thereafter be connected with the open sides to form the open ends of the container. After the container has been filled it may be secured about its contents by having certain parts of the sides secured together, and a certain amount of play is ailowed for the contents by reason of the ilexibility of the container. Play is also permitted lengthwise of the container so that no the container is flexible.

No. 748,477, and in Switzerland November matter how irregular the assembly of packages may be, thecontainer nevertheless' will retainv lall the articles 'in position.

lhether' the container is entirely filled or only partly filled its sides maybe secured about its contents so that in this sense l r The container adapts itself to the size andfshapey of the articles therein, litsjveight is ycomparatively small asA compared jvith its contents and when collapsed the container occupies very little more'spa'ce thanits base. 'The invention isillustratively exempliiiedin the accompanyingdrawing, in which lFigure l is an end elevation of 'thecontainer in extended position; Fig.' 2 is a side'elevational view Fig. 3 is a perspective view of adjllled container constructed in accordance with my invention; and Fig. 4 is a detail A sectional 'vie\vo`f the arrangement of the rbarsfat a" corner of the container'.

" Referring to 'the drawing, 2 denotes a substantially rectangular base mounted on feet or 'rollers -1. It`is desirable toha've the base'2 as light'as possible and for' that reason it may be constructed of Wood or other lightmaterial. i'

" "At each'ofthelonger sides of the base 2 I provide a. plurality, preferably four, of ropes IZfwhich 'areI provided at uniformly spaced' intervals with eyes 3. One end of each rope is desirably secured to the base, the attachment of the ropes to the base being releasable, if desired, although not necessarily so.

The ropes 3 on each side of the base 2 are interconnected by inserting a plurality, preferably five, parallel bars 4 through the eyes 3 of the ropes so that the bars with the ropes form a movable and flexible side of the container.

In order to hold these sides erect while .the container is being filled four rods 5 which serve as corner posts are provided, these rods being offset at their ends and designed to be inserted in holes at the four corners of the base 2, as shown in dotted lines in Figures 1 and 2.

The bars 4 are provided with eyes 6 at their ends, and in? erecting the container the eyes of the upper bars 4 are placed over the offset ends of the corner posts 5. The articles to be handled are placed on yto the latch 9 may be used.

base 2 between the upright flexible sides provided by the ropes 3 and bars li. The articles may be introduced into the container from its two open ends, and these articles may'vary in size, shape and weight, and very great quantities thereof may bereceived by the container without overloadingl it. Its capacity varies within very wide limits because of the flexible and open character of the sides.

After the container has been filled the upper bars llare removed from the corner posts 5 and the middle ropes 3 of both sides are placed together over the top of the load and are then interconnected by a strap, clip or latch. The four corner posts 5 then are withdrawn from the holes in the base 2 and their ends are inserted in the eyes 6 of two complemental bars 4 ot the two longer sides to formopen ends for the container. As shown in Fig. 4, the offset ends of the corner posts 5 have each a groove S containing a spring latch 9, which may engage in the rear of the eye 6 and thus prevent unintentional separation of Vthe connection between the transverse rods 5 andV the bars 4. This connection may be released by y pressing the latch 9 inwardly, but it will be understood that any equivalent of the spring The transverse rods 5 do not prevent the contents of the container from projecting beyond the normal vertical plane of that side of the base at which the rods 5 are positioned so that what may be loosely termed a considerable overload, may be carried by the container without danger of loss of articles.

In collapsed condition, the corner posts 5 may be laid on the base 2, the flexible sides :folded on the base and then secured by the straps 7', so that the entire container occupies substantially no lgreater amount of space than the area of its base 2.

I claim zl. A collapsible container, comprising a base member having openings, oppositely arranged iexible sides attached thereto, said sides comprising ropes connected by bars, andv corner posts insertible in the openings and removable therefrom for temporarily retaining said sides in erect position.

2. In a collapsible container, the combination with the elements claimed in claim l, of means carried respectively by said sides and said corner posts for releasably interconnectingthe same.

3. A collapsible containerwcomprising a.

base member, flexible sides connected to said base member, said sides comprising a plurality of ropes and interconnected rigid bars, corner posts detachably connected to the base member and cooperating with the ends of the rigid bars in one position, said posts being removable for connection with the ends of certain of the rigid bars to form the open ends of the container.

' 4. A collapsible container comprising a base member, flexible sides connected to said base member, said sides comprising a plurality of ropes and interconnected rigid bars, eyes formed at the ends of said bars, corner posts detachably connected to the base member and insertible through the eyes of the rigid bars comprising the sides of the container, said posts being removable for connection with certain of the rigid bars to form the open ends of the container and a fastening element connecting the ropes of opposite sides of said container.

In testimony whereof I alfix my signature.

AUGUST AMsLna 

